Ammunition for signal pistols



Sept. 15, 1931. L. 1.. DRIGGS, JR.. ET AL AMMUNITION FOR SIGNAL PISTOLSFiled Nov. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l gwuentod J:

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Sept. 15, 1931. DRIGGS. JR.. ET AL 1,823,390

AMMUNITION FOR SIGNAL PISTOLS Filed Nov. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2IHIIWI gmmou L. L. Dr J J7. """E FM?? Patented Sept. 15, 1931 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE tours L. muses, an, or NEW noenELLn'Ani) HENRY B.wanna, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

AMMUNITION FOB, SIGNAL PISTOLS Application filed November'25, 1930.Serial No. 498,148.

The present invention relates to improvements in ammunition for signalpistols and consists in certain improvements over our prior Patents Nos.1,712,382 and 1,712,383 granted May 7th, 1929; as shown and de-- scribedin'the prior patents aforesaid, a pistol is provided for shooting'a'projectile, which projectile consists of a parachute and a flare candle. j

The present invention is concerned with the ammunition,'making it-ofsuch construction that it is suitable to be fired from the pistol or tobe used as a hand flare or signal:

At the present time standard life boat sig nals or lights consist ofhand torches adapted to be held aloft by an occupant of the boat. .Therange of visibility of such a signal is very limited owing to thecurvature of-the earth and also due to the fact that the light is cutoff when the boat is in the trough of a wave. Tests indicate that underthe best of conditions these signals can be seen onlyabout six miles.Rockets are out of the ques tion for life boat use due to the diflicultyof launching them from a small. boat. I

Tests have been conducted by the U. S. Coast Guard and. the.SteamboatInspection Service of parachute signals constructed according to ourprior patents aforesaid when firing from signal pistols. These testshave shown a range of visibility under good conditions in excess oftwenty miles.

As a result, signals according to the-above mentioned patents have beenapproved by the Y Steamboat Inspection Service for use on vessels of 200tons and over in place of rockets but the problem involved in life boatuse is that the signal has not; been usable hereto-c fore without thepistol, and because the pistol may possibly become damaged or lostoverboard,- the devices are not approved for life boat use.

It is therefore an object of th'e'invention to so construct the fixedammunition that the signals will be usable even though the pistol islost or damaged; and to this end we have provided a convertible piece ofammunition.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly. pointed outin the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like 61' correspondingparts throughout the several views. 7

- Figure l is a side elevation of a pistol and ammunition constructed inaccordance with the present inventlon.

. F igure-2 shows a longitudinal section taken through the improvedammunition.

Figure 3 is a side-elevation taken on a." smaller scale of theammunition detached and apart from the pistol.

Figure 4 shows the projectile case containing the parachute and flarecandle removed from the cartridge case and projectile base, as when usedas a hand torch.

Figure 5 is a side-elevation of the hand torch mounted in a holder, and

- Figure 6 is a plan view of a striker stick.

Referring more'particularly to the drawings, 1O designates generally apistol which may be of any suitable construction, for instance as shownin our prior patents above noted. The pistol is breech loading and isdesigned to use a signal in the form of fixedammunition. I

This ammunition is shown more particularly in Figure 2 and consists of ashort cartridge case 11 and a flare projectile. The projectile is in twoparts which are ready separable. One part involves a base cup 12 whichcontains a delay fuse 13 projecting into thecartridge case. Inthecartridge case is the usual propelling charge 14. The proj ectilebase also contains the bursting, or expelling charge 15 which contactswith oncommunicates' with the flare' candle.

The projectile base has a portion extending outwardly beyond thecartridge case, such screws into and out of the projectile base 12 100portion being preferably screw threaded as much in the same manner asthe parts of an electric hand flash light are screwed together.

The end of the candle 19 is primed with a self igniting primingcomposition 22, a portion of which projects through the perforated endcap 23 of the projectile case 18 and into contact with the expellingorbursting charge 15.

In the use of the device, as an aerial signal, the entire projectile isshot into the air from the pistol, the projectile leaving the gun withthe delay fuse l3 ignited from the propelling charge 14 contained in thecartrldge case 11. At the peak of its flight, the delay fuse 13 burnsthrough and ignites the expelling charge 15 and the burning candle andparachute are ejected from the projectile case 18, the ignited candlebeing suspended by the parachute as shown in Figure 9 of our priorPatent No. 1,712,383.

In the event of a failure of the pistol or if it should be lostoverboard, means must be provided for using the candle as a hand torch.This is accomplished by unscrewing the portion of the projectile thatcontains the candle and parachute, and inserting same in a holder sothat it can be held in the same manner as a hand torch.

By unscrewing the projectile case 18 from the screw threads '16 of theprojectile base 12, the parachute and candle are removed from the baseand cartridge case and appear as shown in Figure 4, with the primingcompo 'sition 22 exposed through the perforated end of the projectilecase 18.

The device so removed may be placed in a holder suchasshown in Figure 5,the holder being composed for example of the jaws 24 and 25 which aredesigned to grip the sides of the projectile case 18. One or more of thejaws, such as the jaw 25, may be pivoted as indicated at 26 and madeadjustable by the adjusting screw 27 which engages through a tail piece28 of the jaw 25 and against the side of the handle or shank 29.

In Figure 6 we have shown a striker stick :30, one being provided foreach signal and being composed of suitable material with a roughened orkindling surface 31 thereon'. The priming material is ignited bystriking it across this friction surface 31 and the torch is held aloftin the holder 29.

The portion of the ammunition consisting of the cartridge case 11 andprojectile base 12 are discarded as .they have no purpose when thesignal is 'used as a hand torch.

.It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in'thedetails .of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claims:

What is claimed is closed projectile case,

projectile case, a pyrotechnic candle therein,

a parachute also in the case coupled to said candle, a manuallyignitable composition atprimer and a propelling tached to saidcandle,and a member detachably connected with said case for containing a primerand a propelling charge, whereby said candle may be detached for use asa hand flare.

3. Apyrotechnic signal flare comprising a a pyrotechnic candle therein,a friction ignitable priming compo sition attached to said candle,.amember detachablysecured to said case for containing a primer and anexpelling charge, and a delay element fired from the gun with said caseand acting to ignite the candle and drive it from said closed case.

4. A pyrotechnic signal flare comprising a closed projectile case, acoupled pyrotechnic caudle and parachute therein, a friction ignitablepriming composition attached to said candle and exposed through thecase, a base cup detachably fitted to said case containin a burstingcharge for driving the candle an parachute from the case, and acartridge case detachably secured to said base cup for containing aprimer and a propelling charge.

5. A pyrotechnic signal flare comprising a closed projectile case, acoupled pyrotechnic candle and para-chute therein, a friction ignitablepriming composition attached to said candle and exposed through thecase, a base cup detachably connected with the case at the end havingthe priming composition whereby the case may be removed from the basecup to expose the priming composition, a bursting charge carried withinsaid base cup against the priming composition of the candle, a delayelement also carried by said base cup, primer and a propelling charge,said cartridge case detachably secured to said base cup.

6. A pyrotechnic signal flare comprising a cartridge case containing aprimer and an expelling charge adapted to remain in the gun, a base cupremovably fitted in said car-v tridge case and adapted to be projectedfrom the gun when fired and containing a delay fuse and a burstingcharge, a pyrotechnic candle, an ignitor on said candle, a parachuteconnected to said candle, and a projectile case carrying said candle andparachute and removably connected with said base cup, whereby saidcandle may be detached for access to said ignitor.

7 Apyrotechnic'signal flare comprising a and a cartridge case containinga' cartridge case containing a rimer and a propellmg charge and adapteto remain in the gun, a base cu fitted 'removhbly to said cartridge casean containing a delay fuse and a bursting charge, a pyrotechnic candle,an ignitable portion thereon, a parachute connected to the candle, aprojectile case for containing said candle and parachute having an'openend adjacent the'candle exposed to the bursting charge, said base cupand projectile case having means therebetween for permitting of theseparation of the projectile case with the candle and parachute toexpose the end of the candle for use as a hand torch.

8. A pyrotechnicsignal flare comprising a projectile case, a pyrotechniccandle therein, a friction ignitable priming composition attached tosaid candle, an expelling charge adjacent to said priming composition, adelay. fuse element inserted throu h the case and communicating with saiexpelling charge, and means at the fused end of said case for detachablysecuring the member containing a'primer and propelling charge. LOUIS L.DRIGGS, JR. HENRY B. FABER.

